An overview of English as it is spoken in the Northern dialect regions of Ireland.

The second volume of the definitive political history of Northern Ireland.

English has been spoken in Ireland for over 800 years, making Irish English the oldest variety of the language outside Britain. This 2007 book traces the development of English in Ireland, both north and south, from the late Middle Ages to the present day. Drawing on authentic data ranging from medieval literature to authentic contemporary examples, it reveals how Irish English arose, how it has developed, and how it continues to change. A variety of central issues are considered in detail, such as the nature of language contact and the shift from Irish to English, the sociolinguistically motivated changes in present-day Dublin English, the special features of Ulster Scots, and the transportation of Irish English to overseas locations as diverse as Canada, the United States, and Australia. Presenting a comprehensive survey of Irish English at all levels of linguistics, this book will be invaluable to historical linguists, sociolinguists, syntacticians and phonologists alike.

Accompanying CD-ROM contains ... "all the bibliographical items in this book ... along with self-installing software necessary to process the databases and tha annotations on a personal computer." -- p. [535].

Accompanying DVD-ROM contains ... "all sound files ... as well as appropriate software for listening to the recordings. In addition there is much information about Irish English, an introduction to the phonology of this variety, as well as various items of background information which might be of interest to users of the atlas."--Page [v]. Includes Java version of the sound atlas.

An overview of English as it is spoken in the Northern dialect regions of Ireland.

Focusing on Irish speakers in Catholic West Belfast, this ethnography on Irish language and identity explores the complexities of changing, and contradictory, senses of Irishness and shifting practices of 'Irish culture' in the domains of language, music, dance and sports. The author’s theoretical approach to ethnicity and ethnic revivals presents an expanded explanatory framework for the social (re)production of ethnicity, theorizing the mutual interrelations between representations and cultural practices regarding their combined capacity to engender ethnic revivals. Relevant not only to readers with an interest in the intricacies of the Northern Irish situation, this book also appeals to a broader readership in anthropology, sociology, cultural studies, history and political science concerned with the mechanisms behind ethnonational conflict and the politics of culture and identity in general.